Friday, October 31, 2014

Author Mac Barnett

Author Mac Barnett dropped by Watch. Connect. Read. to celebrate Halloween and picture books. We chatted about birds, Jen Corace, school libraries, and time travel. I wrote the words in orange, and he wrote the words in black. Thank you, Mac! I hope you're having a spooky Halloween!

The book trailer for Telephonewas made using unpaid child labor, in the form of adorable voice actors.

Mama Bird wants Peter to fly home for dinner in the book, but in
general I think she probably wants him to study hard, to stay out of trouble,
at least mostly (because she wants Peter to get into a little bit of trouble,
the kind of trouble that teaches him who really he is), to go to a good
college, if he wants to that is (but who is she kidding—she wants him to want
to, she reads the news and she’s terrified that if Peter doesn’t get a degree
he’ll be stuck in a job that doesn’t pay, although she knows Peter and deep
down trusts that he could find his own way), to have his heart broken once, so
that when he meets the right bird he’ll know how fragile and terrifying and
wonderful love can be, and of course she wants him to meet that bird, the bird
who will make him want to fly—not home, not for dinner, but to fly for the sake
of flying, to fly because his heart is happy and the sky is wide and blue—you
know, what any mother pigeon hopes for her son.

Jen Corace’s illustrations are bold and vivid, but still
wonderfully detailed, so they can be enjoyed when the book’s at the front of the
classroom or sitting on your lap.

The Echo Park Time Travel Mart is a real store I built in Los
Angeles that sells robot toupees, dinosaur eggs, and other great holiday gifts,
the purchase of which helps a nonprofit writing center pay the rent.

I think Halloween has a pretty compelling claim to Best Holiday.

School libraries go a long way to ensuring all kids can choose the
books they want to read.

Picture books are a form, not a genre.

Mr. Schu, you should have asked me what I’m dressing up as this
year.

Borrow Telephonefrom your school or public library. Whenever possible, please support independent bookshops.

No comments:

Post a Comment

About Mr. Schu

I am a part-time lecturer at Rutgers University and the Ambassador of School Libraries for Scholastic. I work diligently to put the right book in every child's hand. Book trailers are one way to connect readers with books. (All opinions shared are on own.)